Saturday, January 31, 2015

If Nobody Knows, Is it Okay?

It is hilarious to watch children when they think they cannot be seen. Wyatt will walk down the pews trying to hide thinking that he cannot be seen because he cannot see you. Little does he know, the top of his head has gotten taller than the back of the pew giving him away. Michelle Heroux enlightened me why babies enjoy peek-a-boo so much. It is what she called "object displacement" and how the babies are amused at how you can vanish and reappear all of a sudden. I love seeing the smiles on Rylan's face as we play this timeless game with him. I realize that the older people get, they do not move too far away from the confusion of object displacement.

How many times have we sinned because we consciously, or unconsciously, thought that nobody would ever know? The wise man wrote, "A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight. When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them. Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death" (Proverbs 11:1-4). People in ancient times, like today, tipped the scales to cause an unfair balance. We tip the scales every time we sin. Whoever has sinned with the consciousness of God's awareness of their activities has some serious spiritual misunderstanding about the consequences of sin.

Paul wrote in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Because of tipping the scales, each person is worthy of death. It is only in righteousness that there is life. There is no amount of righteous acts a person can do to earn this life though. Paul described it as "the free gift." Because this is free, yet you have to be righteous and there is nothing you can do, your righteousness is completely dependent upon Christ. There is only one way to be made righteous and not sin, be born of God and have his seed abide in you (1 John 3:4-10). Even if nobody knows you are tipping the scales, it is never okay to sin. Do not let Satan cover your eyes to God's presence.